Bowling ball rack



March 31,1953 HEogNskoos 2,333,359

' BOWLING BALL RACK Ifiled Feb. 21, 1951 Patented Mar. 31, 1953 BOWLINGBALL RACK Ernest Hedenskoog, Muskegon, Mich., assignor to TheBrunswiek-Balke-Collender Company, a

corporation of Delaware Application February 21, 1951, Serial No.212,086

9 Claims.

and particularly to improved track construction for use in conjunctionwith a storage or return rack for bowling balls.

In a bowling alley constructed in accordance with the prior art, after aplayer bowls, the ball is returned over a track located alongside thealley and suflicient momentum is imparted to the ball to enable it toreach an elevated ball rack located at the players end of the alley.Here the ball remains until it is time for the player to bowl again.Since each player usually has a ball designed to fit his particularrequirements, he has to pick out his ball from a group of similar ballswhen it is his turn to bowl again. The rack on which his ball is locatedincludes a pair of parallel tracks or rails which are able toaccommodate a number of balls. A pair of longitudinal fibre inserts mayform the track members on which the balls actually rest.

since the balls stored on the rack are apt to look alike a player canidentify his ball only by testing the finger holes. If these fingerholes do not happen to be at the top of the ball in its restingposition, the player will rotate the ball against the friction of thetrack members until the finger holes are in an accessible position. Asthe balls are of uniform size and always stop on the same spaced apartpoints on the track members, this constant rotating of the balls by theplayers very quickly wears down the track members, thus detracting fromthe appearance of the rack and impairing the usefulness of the trackmembers. Occasionally, a player, in an excess of exertion, will applysufficient force to the ball to pull it clear of the rack therebyendangering his feet and the feet of anyone in the vicinity.

It is an object of this invention to provide a rack having a pluralityof rotatable ball rests in order to enable bowling balls positioned onthe rack to be freely rotatable, thereby obviating the difficultiesdescribed above.

A further object of this invention is to provide a ball rest for abowling ball rack which will reduce wear on the track members.

Another object of this invention is to produce a bowling ball rack whichwill retain bowling balls thereon and in which accident hazards arereduced during play.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent as the description of theillustrated embodiment proceeds, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view, partly broken, of a bowling ball rackincorporating the roller device of the preferred form of this invention,with five balls stored thereon;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partially in broken section of the device ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along the lines 3-3of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the roller device; and,

Fig. 5 is a top view of the roller shown in Fig. 4.

While there is shown in the drawings and hereinafter described in detaila preferred form of the invention, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the particular form and arrangement shown.It is contemplated that various changes may be made by those skilled inthe art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

The ball return rack shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is composed of a bed Itdefining an elongated semirotund recess or depression l I in which islocated a pair of track members [2. A terminal unit l3 at the playersend of the rack has a ball stop surface 2| which serves to arrest themovement of a plurality of bowling balls I4 which have entered the rack.

A plurality of rotatable members l5 are positioned at spaced intervalsin the bed Ill alongside the longitudinal recess II. The rotatablesurfaces of the members It are lined up on the rack as shown in Figs. 1and 2 so that the center of each ball longitudinally of the rack isapproximately in line with the centers of one pair of rotatable members15. Preferably the rotatable surface of the members I5 projects adistance above the bed I!) which is sufiicient to enable the bowlingball M to roll smoothly from the track members l2 onto the members 15.In order to free the balls from track members l2 when the balls reach aposition of rest central of the members IS, the track members may be cutaway slightly as shown in Fig. 2. Thus, the balls may roll successivelyover diiierent portions of the track members l2 and over successivepairs of members l5 without bumping and yet when the balls reach theirrest position they are supported entirely by the members [5. It istherefore relatively easy to rotate the balls while on the members l5and to do so Without any tendency for the ball to pass off the track.

The rotatable members l5 consist of a pair of end supports l6 and il(Figs. 4 and 5) in which a stationary shaft I8 is imbedded. The shaft itserves as a bearing surface for a roller Hi. There may be considerabletolerance between the shaft l8 and the roller i9 since a loose fitbetween these two members will give satisfactory service. While thedimensions of the members 16, ii, iii and I9 are not critical it isdesirable that they be rather inconspicuous in order to avoid detractingfrom the appearance of a smoothly finished streamlined rack. End piecesl8 and ll of quarter inchstock of about an inch in length and a rollerl9 about an inch-and-a-hallf in length giving an overall length of abouttwo inches to the rotatable member have been found satisfactory. As bestshown in Fig. 3, the greater portion of the members l6 and I! isimbedded in the bed 16 and only the tips which support the shaft l8extend above the surface.

The pair of members 15 nearest said ball stop surface 2! are positionedtherefrom a distance approximately equal to half the diameter of a ballI 4 and the successive pairs of members l5 are positioned from eachother a distance approximately equal to the diameter of a ball, saiddistances being measured or reckoned from between the centers of each ofsaid pairs of members [5.

While only a single embodimenthas been illustrated it is obvious thatmany variations may be made in my invention without departing from thespirit thereof. It is therefore my intention to be limited in scope onlyas may be necessitated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A rack for bowling balls, comprising: an elongated bed, a pair ofspaced parallel track members positioned in said bed, and a pair ofoppositely spaced rollers positioned in said bed alongside said track.members the turning axes of said .rollers being approximately parallelto said track members and said rollers being disposed to engage abowling ball.

2. A bowling ball rack as clairned in claim 1 in which the rollers arecomprised of a of end supports extending into said bed, a stationaryshaft positioned between said and supports and a rotatable rollermounted upon said shaft.

3. In a bowling ball rack comprising a longitudinal bed, a pair ofparallel track members, and a terminal unit; the improvement whichconsists of a pair of oppositely spaced roller members in said bedalongside said track members, the turning axes of said rollers beingparallel to said track members and being disposed to engage a bowlingball on their rotatable surfaces.

4. .A rack for bowling balls comprising: an elongated substantiallyhorizontal bed, a pair of parallel track members positioned in said bedsubstantially co-extensive with the longitudinal surface thereof, aterminal unit at one end of said bed, and .a plurality of oppositelyspaced rollers mounted on said bed at spaced intervals, said rollershaving their turning axes substantially parallel with said track membersand each pair of oppositely spaced rollers being disposed to engage thesurface of one of a plurality of bowling balls on said rack.

5. In a bowling ball rack, an elongated bed positioned substantially ina horizontal plane, a pair of spaced parallel track members projectingupward a short distance from said bed, said track members constituting asurface for the passage of bowling balls, and a row of rollers at spacedintervals along the outer side of each of said track members, theturning axes of the rollers in each row being lined up with each otherand said rollers in said two rows being oppositely spaced with respectto each other whereby each of a plurality of bowling balls stored onsaid rack will engage the rotatable surfaces of a pair of oppositelyspaced rollers.

6. In a bowling ball rack, an elongated bed positioned substantiallyhorizontally, a terminal unit at one end of said bed, a ball stopsurface on said terminal unit, a pair of longitudinal track memberspositioned longitudinally on said bed, and a plurality of oppositelyspaced roller members forming a line on the outer side of each of saidtrack members, the turning axes of each line of roller members beingsubstantially coaxial and. one pair of said plurality of oppositelyspaced rollers positioned nearest said ball stop surface being spacedtherefrom by about half the diameter of a bowling ball and the remainderof said oppositely spaced roller members being spaced from each other byabout the diameter of a bowling ball, said measurements being reckonedfrom between the centers of said oppositely spaced roller members.

'1. A bowling ball storage device as claimed in claim 6 wherein theroller members consist of a pair of end supports extending into said bedand projecting slightly therefrom, a stationary shaft mounted betweenthe exposed ends of .said end supports, and a freely rotatable rollermounted upon said shaft.

8. A bowling ball rack as claimed in claim 1 wherein there .are aplurality of pairs of oppositely spaced rollers, eachpair being spacedfrom its adjacent pair a distance approximately equal to the diameter ofa bowling ball.

9. A bowling ball rack as claimed in claim 3 wherein there are aplurality of pairs of oppositely spaced roller members, each of said.pairs being spaced from its adjacent pair a distance approximatelyequal to the diameter of a bowling ball.

ERNEST HEDENSKOOG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of .record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,900,469 Skrlec et al.. Mar. 7-,1933 2,34%,964 Discher Apr. .4, 1944 2,530,429 Hedenskoog Nov. 21, 1950

